Love.... Many people claim to feel it
towards brothers, sisters, parents, and so on. But, how can
we be certain that they are, indeed, telling the truth?
Humans only say they love each other because it's
politically correct; many people feel they have to. That is
what I have and always will believe.

My pen moved across the milky white
paper, leaving behind a variety of black lines. The
unusually cool air blew a gentle gust of wind, causing
the leaves to dance wildly and the birds to fly away.
"There goes the scenery." I thought aloud. I dusted the
dirt off my backside and began slowly walking to
school. I was in no hurry, I didn't really enjoy school
and so, I took my time. I took in my surroundings, the
smell, the sight, the sound....It was remarkable. A few
moments later, my feet met the end of a steep hill,
which meant that the school building was on the other
side. I slid down and landed on my feet, directly in a
mud puddle. Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on anyone
being there yet, so, imagine my surprise when I saw a
pretty, rich-looking blonde girl covered in mud glaring
at me! She began yelling things at me, although I am
not quite certain what they were. I seem to have a
knack for tuning things out, no offence, but, I
like my eardrums. In order to avoid an
unnecessary quarrel, I mumbled an apology and left to
class. Due to this being a small town, the school was
also small. It was made of two classrooms. One was for
children from ages 5-11 and the other was for children
from the ages 11-16. It was just your typical, small
southern town. "Zofia, Zofia!!" I snapped out of my
trance, only to see the scowling face of my teacher
inches from my face.

Zofia, that's my name. It means wisdom, but
I'm considered to be dumb because I don't always hear what
the teacher asks and I seldom answer a question
voluntarily. "Zofia, go do the math problem on the chalk
board, and if you get it wrong the entire class gets extra
homework!" She warned, I could have sworn I saw the vain on
her forehead enlarge. I made my way to the front of the
classroom, ignoring the mumbles of my peers. They were
certain that I'd get the problem wrong and they'd have
loads of homework. It was pretty rude to assume that I'd
fail, but, I decided to let that pass. I picked up a small,
piece of white chalk and got to work. I wondered why they
thought I'd get it wrong, it was a very simple math
problem, yet when I turned around, I saw that the faces of
my classmates were now accompanied by wide eyes and open
mouths. "How...That was a college level math problem....And
your only thirteen!" The teacher stated, baffled at my
success. I see now, I was supposed to fail. But, I
don't think it was a college level question, it
was way too easy!

Throughout the rest of the school day I
ignored the oncoming stares of fellow students. Just
imagine, the weird, obviously dumb girl solved a college
level math problem correctly! While I was walking home from
school I heard someone call my name. "Zofia, come here, I
want to tell you something! It's really important!" To be
honest, I really didn't care, but I was curious to see who
had called my name, for I had no friends, so it seemed
weird. So, I walked towards the voice, surprised when I saw
that very same blonde girl from this morning along with,
what I assumed was her "posse". "What is it?" I queried my
expression emotionless. Her innocent smile then transformed
into a glare, the kind of glare that said "I'm pissed and
you'd better watch out." She smirked and said "You sullied
my favourite dress, and you're going to pay!" "And your
point is....?" I asked in a sarcastic tone. Then, she got
furious, which I found hilarious, so much so that I
actually smiled! "Now, if you don't mind, I have
to leave." I stated as politely as I could as I pushed
passed Blondie. I could feel her burning hot glare bore
into my flesh. It was just a damn dress, why the hell was
Blondie so pissed?! She bent down and grabbed a round, gray
rock, which was about the size of a mouse, and threw it at
me. I moved my arms in front of my face, creating my very
own shield and closed my eyes. But, after awhile I noticed
that nothing had hit me, so I glanced through the small
crevice in between my arms, only to see a boy standing in
front of me! It would have been pretty cool if he caught
the rock, it would have, but he didn't. Instead,
he allowed it to smash against his cheek, leaving behind an
embarrassingly noticeable violet mark. "Are you alright?"
He asked a look of pure concern on his face. "What's it to
you?" I replied, getting a confused look from the boy in
response.

"Sakura! My name is Sakura; it's nice to
meet you." He said as he stretched his hand out,
awaiting mine to reply. I didn't. If it was one thing I
knew, it was that I could never have friends. I'll
think alone, live alone, and die alone. "Isn't Sakura a
girls' name?" I queried, hopefully this would get him
off my back. He stood there, quietly for a moment,
looking down at his feet, which must have been
very interesting; then he looked up and smiled
a big, goofy smile. "Yeah, my mom and dad wanted a
girl, so, now that's my name." He confessed, still
smiling. I felt my face increase in temperature. Holy
shit was I blushing! In fear that he might see
my natural rough, I quickly spun around. Too quickly,
for when I did, I ended up falling flat on my face.
Great, he won't notice it if my entire face is covered
in dirt! I stood back up almost as fast as I'd fallen,
but ended up wishing I hadn't when I saw Sakura looking
through my sketch book. He seemed intrigued, sort of
like when a teenage boy is first introduced to play boy
magazines. I snatched the book out of his hands,
earning another one of his confused looks. "I don't see
why you're so embarrassed." He stated. "You are very
good." "Well I don't see why you insist on looking
through my stuff!" I replied. I was getting angry. Not
because he looked at my drawings, or because he
insisted on talking to me, but because I kept
blushing!

You'd think
that the conversation would end, but, no, it continued,
even as I walked away. "So....how long have you lived
here?" Sakura questioned as he tried to catch up with me. I
turned abruptly and answered anger evident in my voice.
"Forever…Why the hell do you keep talking to me?!" I'm not
going to lie; I did feel pretty bad after I said
that. I mumbled a quick "sorry", all the while attempting
to hide my embarrassment. "It's alright, I was being pretty
annoying." He confessed.

I giggled at his self-accusation, which,
in return, made him laugh. It was weird-Being
laughed with instead of being laughed
at. He then began to twiddle his fingers in a
nervous fashion until finally, I just exclaimed "Why
are you acting so nervously?" in my oh-so gentle voice,
which caused him to start rambling like a student
throwing excuses at his teacher whom is about to chew
him out for forgetting his homework. "Nothing, I was
just wondering if you wanted to do something-That's
all." He managed to spit out. Wait, was he asking me
out? I was so deep in confusion, that I didn't even
realize Sakura was still talking. "....I could cook
dinner, maybe....Are you listening? H-e-l-l-o-o!" I
quickly snapped back to reality, coming face to face
with Sakura's hands being waved frantically in my face.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Yeah, sounds great...You cook?" I
queried, for it was pretty rare to see a guy who was
gifted in the culinary arts. "Well, yeah, so...Is it a
date?" He asked, uttering that last word
carefully. So he was asking me out. After
about a half hour of an awkward conversation, we
eventually left to his house. Once his home came into
view I became impressed. His house wasn't huge or
anything, but, it was so beautifully cozy. This
picturesque domicile was only made more amazing with
the lovely shrubs, multitude of flowers, and lush
grass. All I could do was stand there.

Well, aren't you going to come in?"
Sakura inquired, already holding the door open for me.
So, without hesitation, I hurried into his house. Once
I stepped inside my nose decided to take over-Leading
me to a smell that made my mouth water. Jokingly,
Sakura tapped my hand with a wooden spoon and scolded
me for sticking my nose in the food-Sounding much like
my mother. Oh, speaking of which... "Oh, sorry Sakura,
I think I should probably get back home. My
mom-"

"It's fine, she won't mind, trust me." He
interrupted. So, finding it impossible to leave the smell
of whatever resided in that pot, I decided to stay.
Noticing the river of drool I'd created, he quickly warned
me that it would take another twenty minutes until the
dinner was done. "So, are you going to give me the grand
tour of your abode?" I asked eager to see the rest of his
house. "Oh, it's pretty messy-I can't. Maybe another
time..." He pleaded whilst he walked down the hall. "I'll
be back, I just forgot something outside." I nodded and
awaited his return, but, I began to get bored. So, I
decided to poke around a little while he was gone. I know
curiosity killed the cat, but, I'm no cat. I felt my feet
carefully make their way towards a closed door on the other
side of the room. I clutched the smooth, cool knob, making
sure Sakura was nowhere in sight as I carefully turned
it-Making sure not to make too much noise. The door creaked
open and my eyes widened to the size of ostrich
eggs.

The smell of decaying bodies filled my
nostrils, causing my very psyche to gag. I quickly
closed my eyes-wishing the corpses would disappear from
my thoughts. My mind raced frantically-part of me was
trying to convince me that this was all just in my
imagination and another part of me kept telling me to
run. But, I didn't know which voice to obey.

It was like a car crash. No matter how hard
I tried I couldn't look away. A certain carcass in the far
courner of the room seemed especially intriguing. Why did I
seem so drawn to it? Slowly, I walked toward it. My legs
were jelly and my mind was blank-The only thing that had me
walking was that I could've sworn I knew that person. But,
that was impossible. I edged closer and closer till I was
standing right in front of it. I knelt down in front of it,
studying its features-Its familiarity intrigued me. Her
golden hair and slender body, her dark eyelashes and full,
pink lips, and her skin which seemed to have been kissed
lightly by the sun-They all seemed so familiar. My heart
stopped and I couldn't breathe. Oh god,
please-Please don't let this be who I think it is!
I lightly stroked her face as tears fell from my eyes and
onto my knees. It was her, I knew it. Why-Why did
this have to happen? I pulled her into a tight hug and
whispered through gasps. "Mother-Oh mother, I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry mother..." I could have sworn I heard her voice.
It was saying "Run! Get out of here! Hurry love, go!"
Hesitantly, I left her and quickly ran from the room, shut
the door and…Ran right into Sakura.

"What's wrong Zofia? You seem like
you're in a rush." Oh god, did he see me go into that
room? I have to think of a quick response. "Uhhh" was
all that came out. "It's fine, the food should be
ready." After informing me, he made his way towards the
wooden stove and poured something reddish over rice.
"What is that?" I queried, eyeing the delicious
smelling dish. "Japanese curry." He answered. Whilst he
busied himself with serving drinks and such I noticed
his wardrobe. The cuffs of his shirt were stained brown
and his pants had several mud stains-A drastic change
from his earlier, clean attire. He set the two plates
on the table, sat down and shoveled a big spoonful into
his mouth. I too began to eat, just not as
enthusiastically. "Sakura…" I began tentatively, "What
were you doing outside for twenty minutes-I thought you
were just going to get something." I looked up from my
eyelashes at a now-nervous-looking Sakura. He gulped
down what he had in his mouth and answered nonchalantly
"Nothing worth mentioning." He was hiding something….I
just knew it! Another thing I noticed was that his
parents were nowhere to be seen. "Where on earth are
his parents?" Oh shit, did I just say that out loud!
"I'm sorr-"

"It's alright." He interrupted. "Actually,
my parents…aren't around anymore. I've never told anyone
this, but, I feel that I can share everything with you. So,
I shall."

Flash back-Sakura's point of view-eight
years into the past:

It was unusually quiet, so much so that I
could hear the wind itself. In an earnest attempt, I ran
outside and, to my surprise and relief, found mother
hanging laundry. "Hello dear, I see you've finally woken
up-I thought you took ill. Her voice was as sweet and
beautiful as the bright coloured flowers scattered across
the grass on the ground beneath her. She had beautiful
silky, ink hair with eyes of a deep brown that looked
almost red. Her lips were as pale a pink as a rose petal
and her skin resembled a flower's petals as well. My father
was still at work and I had no more chores to do, so I
assisted her with the laundry. One by one we hung them up
together. I'd pass them from the basket to her and she'd
hang them up. I didn't realize this, but one of the shirts
had a needle caught in it and when I passed it to her, she
pricked herself-And rather hard at that. A small drop of
pure red liquid slithered from the small wound and onto the
satin-like skin of her palm. It wasn't much, but I was
affected all the same-That is when I discovered my
interest-My fascination with blood.

It was like I was no longer myself,
every sense I had was gone-Fear, love, everything. All
I knew was that I wanted more of it-more of the
beautiful crimson fluid. "Oh, shoot! I pricked
myself…I'll go to the kitchen and stop the bleeding." I
tried to apologize, but she merely told me that it was
just a small jab and it was partially her fault. Once
we were in the kitchen she pressed a small cloth onto
the wound. It caused a small, red circle to appear on
the handkerchief. It was beautiful-Then, I realized
something terrible. It was almost gone-She was mopping
up all of the blood! No, that couldn't happen! Barely
conscious of my actions, I picked up a knife, staring
at it intently but nothing going through my head. I
rubbed its smooth exterior until, before I knew it, I
had stuck it into her tourso. The liquid fell from the
gash and trickled down her lower back. When she
collapsed to the floor I could only stare in
wonderment. She was growing paler-and her eyes, dimmer.
It was as if her very life was drained from her. It was
lovely.

Her last words were "Oh my son, I
for-give…you." Then, she fell into an eternal sleep. I sat
with her corpse and wept. I wept for my mother and I wept
for my sanity. After crying for a few hours, my father
returned home and, upon seeing his wife in a pool of her
own blood and me holding a bloody knife, became infuriated.
"You little-How could you?! She gave you life and you take
hers' away?" He was too angry to think logically. He left
to his room and told me to follow. I did, of course. His
hands groped all around the top drawer of his bureau and,
once he found what he'd been looking for, pulled out a shot
gun. "An eye for an eye…and a tooth for a tooth. You killed
her, so it's only natural that you die in order to repay
her. He loaded the gun. I was going to die-I had to do
something. That's when I noticed the bottle of liquor on
his nightstand. I took it and threw it at his face. After
being hit, he dropped the gun and became even more
infuriated. "You are the son of the devil!" I know I
should've been scared but…The feel of it all was so
invigourating! I lifted the fallen gun and shot it at him.
It was like a tiny explosion-I loved it. After he had
stopped breathing, I dragged the two carcasses-My mother
and father both-And stowed them away in my brother's old
bedroom. I wept again that night. I loved it and I hated
myself for loving it."

End flash back.

I was shocked to the point of immobility. He
reached out across the table and held my hands in his. "I
love you-Since the first time I saw you I knew this. Zofia,
I want to share my life with you-Past and future; good
times and bad. I want to change-To stop killing just for
you. Please Zofia?"

My Hands felt
slippery underneath his; I could barely breathe. Was I
crazy, or was a murderer proposing to
me? His grip began to tighten, causing me to wince.
"Please Zofia, I
need you." His amber eyes were deep with sorrow.
He really did love me. And to
be honest...I...loved him too. I
loved him, although we'd just met this afternoon-I
loved him, but I was scared. Multiple thoughts swam
through my head. He's so nice. He'll kill
me! He loves me. He's a sadistic murderer! Some
were trying to convince me and others served as
warnings-But, I didn't know what to do. And what could
I do? I had no one to go home to. That's right. He
killed her. But...Why? I had to find out. So, after a
few minutes of mental preparation, I
spoke.

"Sakura....I saw
it-Your
brother's room-I think it was, anyway. So," Tears were
beginning to fill my eyes and blur my vision. "So, why
did you kill her?! Why did you take my mother from me? If
you love me-Then, why-Why'd you do that!?"A serious
expression then fell upon his face. "I did it for you my
love. I knew you'd leave and go back to her-I knew you'd
leave me just like everyone else tried to." The image of
the piles of corpses plagued my mind. The
others...?

"I love you Zofia
and I want to keep you all to myself." Ok, I was scared
before, but now I was terrified! If I didn't leave soon
there's no telling what he'd do-I don't even want to
think about it! My heart's speed rising, I threw the dish
at his face. It broke in contact with his face, the hot
substance probably burning his fresh wound. Without a
moment of hesitation, I scrambled to my feet and ran to
the door. I ran faster than I ever had in my entire life.
Footsteps advanced behind me-They sounded like they were
running-or rather
chasing after something-Me. I was in a state
of horror-So much so that I wasn't thinking logically.
Instead of running to my house, I ran deeper into the
familiar woods I often sketched. It looked so much more
different at night. The scenery went perfect with what
was going on-A typical "murderer chase scene"
setting.

Once I was deep in the woods, I slumped
down next to a large pine tree, hugging my legs close to
my abdomen. Footsteps came closer still-There was no
point in running, they were right behind me. I was going
to die tonight and I knew it. Tears spilled, my breath
quickened and the steps grew louder. An eerie "thump,
thump" resounded throughout the area- Sweat began to drip
from my forehead as the unbearable noise grew louder,
although at this point I wasn't sure if it was my heart
beat or the stomping of my admirer/murderer. The noise
grew louder and louder and louder, until I thought I'd
surely go insane. I couldn't think, nor could I move-No
matter how many times my mind pleaded my legs wouldn't
budge. I awaited death and it came to me with a smile on
its face.

For a while,
everything was dark and a bit cold, but after some time I
began to notice my surroundings. My head ached and I
couldn't move my arms. Were they broken? No, there was
something restraining them, but what?

I tried to pull my hands lose from
the rope bounding them, but it was no use. I
struggled and struggled harder and harder, but the
only "rewards" I got were rope-burns decorating my
wrists. I pulled my body upward so that I was now
sitting right side up. "Zofia, darling, I've been so
worried!" The voice was rejoicing and melodic and oh,
so menacing. There was only one word in my mind right
now-Death…Something that was bound to happen
soon...If I'm lucky. He knelt in front of me and
stroked my cheek with the gentle care of a new born's
mother. His hands traveled along my body-Messaging my
shoulders and stroking the back of my neck. He was
trying to comfort me. I looked wearily at him and
then at the restrictions. "Oh, that. Don't worry;
this was just the most…Humane way to keep
you from escaping-Well, easilly at least."
His soft lips pressed against my cheek; before I knew
it I was off of the ground and in his arms. "Oh
darling, I love you so much." He cooed, bestowing a
second kiss upon my forehead.

For weeks he treated me like his one
and only princess. But, it was obvious that he was
unstable. One moment he was as happy as a child on
Christmas day and then, all of a sudden he'd be
sobbing uncontrollably. He was having one of his
"moments" again. Tears dripped down his chin and on
to the dark, wooden floor. With a sniffle, he said
"You can go. Go ahead and leave me-I won't stop you."
I walked toward him, slowly, and sat beside him,
pulling his head against my breast and stroking his
head as if he were a small child. "Ssshh," I cooed.
"I'm not going anywhere." Call me crazy, but I was
beginning to develop feelings for him.